Adventures in Baking: Brownies
by Munchkin1
Summary: Heero desides to make brownies for Duo. Part 1 of 2 (1x2/2x1)


Title: Adventures in Baking: Brownies (1/2)  
Author: Munchkin  
Archived: Fanfiction.net, you actually want it? Fine, just tell me where it is  
Warnings: Silly, strange 1x2 -2x1(haven't decided which)  
Authors notes: Enjoy!  
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, I don't own Betty Crocker, I own about 20 baking books though!  
  
  
Heero Yuy glared around at the spotless kitchen, peering at countertops and swiping down the table.  
  
He was on a mission. His first long weekend in a long time and another mission had come up. This one self assigned.  
  
Duo, his roommate and lover for the past two years, had been on an assignment for a week. Meaning no contact with him. He would be coming home tonight tired and hungry. And he would get what he liked. It would be a perfect evening for the most likely exhausted braided one.  
  
Heero himself had been on report and security duty most of the week and sleep hadn't turned out to be one of the easiest things, so he was tired. But after tonight he could rest.  
  
The kitchen was clean.  
  
Phase one completed....  
  
The dinner was prepared, all he had to do was heat it up.  
  
Phase Two completed....  
  
Now to phase Three: Brownies.  
  
*  
  
Heero had always like to cook. It was relaxing and he could take all of his frustration out on the dish and the dish intern could not fight back.   
  
He could make burgers. He could make fries or lobster, or Mexican. He could make anything...anything that is if its healthy, which obviously does not include Brownies.  
  
Heero wouldn't have minded never trying to bake Brownies, but they *were* Duo's favorite desert....and he did want to make him happy.  
  
"Besides," He thought booting up his laptop, "How hard could it be?"  
  
*  
  
It took around an hour to find a suitable recipe that Heero had found appropriate on a web site entitled "Better Homes and Gardens: The Perfect Brownies"!  
  
The site read as fallows:  
  
"Perfect Brownies  
  
  
Moist, Chewy brownies. Spread with rich fudge frosting!  
  
2 1-ounce squares Unsweetened Chocolate  
1/2 Cup Butter or Margarine  
1 Cup Sugar  
2 Eggs  
1 Teaspoon Vanilla  
1/2 Cup shifted Enriched Flour  
  
Melt chocolate over hot water.  
  
Thoroughly cream butter and sugar; add eggs and beat well. Blend in melted chocolate, vanilla, and flour.   
  
Pour batter into greased 8x8x2-inch pan. Bake in slow oven (325o) 35 minutes.  
  
Frost with Fudge Frosting!"  
  
Now as everyone knows, it is imposable, or very nearly so, to make perfect brownies. However Heero was ready to try anything and begun gathering the ingredients. Having to stand on countertops occasionally because all the baking ingredients are on the top shelves and he never hit a good growth spurt(1).  
  
Slipping on their only apron, a bright pink one with red lettering stating "Kiss the Cook", a apartment warming gift to him from Relena, Heero turned and adjusted the oven temperature to 325. That done, Heero went to pull down a bowl from the top shelf about the oven and prepared to begin.  
  
He couldn't reach the bowl.  
  
Grumbling under his breath Heero jumped and was able to grab a hold of the bowl collection and drag it back down. Selecting the largest one he slid the rest back up in the cupboard.   
  
Scanning the directions for the brownies he took the butter and sugar, measuring them precisely, and poured them into the bowl. Taking the eggs he broke them and mixed. And as he did so he thought he smelled something burning.  
  
Turning around he looked at the oven....it seemed normal enough. Just perfectly normal with all that gray smoke creeping out from the tiny opening at the top.   
  
Groaning at his folly Heero marched the few feet to the oven and opened it, putting a hand up to protect his eyes from the smoke and heat. After the smoke cleared a little, though it was still coming out strong, he saw the one thing Duo forgot to tell him about resting in the oven.   
  
It was Duo's journal. For some reason he had a strange habit of hiding it in unusual places whenever he had a mission. Heero thought that it came from his days on the streets where he had to hide things so they wouldn't get stolen by other kids, but wasn't positive (2).   
  
Sometimes it was in the laundry, occasionally in the garage or hidden behind the tv. Now though the poor little journal would be no more.   
  
Heero turned off the oven and took out a handy kitchen fire extinguisher, they had purchased it after Duo had lit one of the curtains on fire with a candle some time back, and let the white foam smother the flames only to have the thing explode on him and cause the kitchen and part of the den become a winter wonderland without snow.  
  
He wiped the foam away from his eyes steaming and grabbed the small now black and white singed book and put it on the counter. He would have to try and see if he could fix it in some way later. Now he had to clean the oven, kitchen and den; and start all over again.  
  
It took him about a half an hour to get the kitchen into some form of cleanliness and start again with the sugar, butter and eggs.  
  
That done he continued to beat the butter an other substances into oblivion without further disruptions.  
  
Heero now turned towards his laptop and examined the directions once again. He needed chocolate but all they had was coco. But luck was on his side for once! He could use the coco and they would turn out all right, many cooks did that. Now to find the right measurements.  
  
Checking the list of equivalent measurements he figured he needed 1/4 cup of coco. As the messy haired pilot was calculating the coco his guard was down, making him a perfect victim for their next room neighbor, Sandra.  
  
Heero wasn't sure if he was a magnet for hyperactive, talkative, and annoying baka's or if he had a 'Please bother me. I'm really not doing anything important' sign on him and the door; not that he minded one braided baka, mind you, but he sure was thinking it when the doorbell started ringing.   
  
DING!DONG!DING!DONG!DING!DONG!DINGDONG!DINGDONG!DING!DONG!DING!DONG!DING! DONG!  
  
Fixing his most potent death glare Heero approached the door, coco in hand. He jerked open the door and his neighbor went flying towards him incasing him in a hug and knocking his hand and causing the poor coco to fly on top his head, toping his head with chocolate powder and let it go trailing down his face and cloths.   
  
"HIYA!" She stood back and giggled at his coco smeared face. "I was just won-" The door was slammed into her face.  
  
Turning heal Heero racked a hand threw his hair, causing the chocolate powder to bind with his hair and drift onto his cloths, hands and face....never to come off again until he had a shower. He walked back to the kitchen and started on the coco again, the doorbell still ringing in the background.  
  
^*^  
  
The brownies had been mixed with only minor incidences occurring, the few of which causing floorer to be coating the floor and the reason he now smelled like vanilla.  
  
Looking threw the draws and many other cupboards the Perausan eyed boy searched for the illusive 8x8x2''(3)pan. He had found many larger pans, he had found countless unknown pans but none were 8x8x2''. Rolling his eyes Heero grabbed one of the middle sized pans and poured the chocolately mixture into the pan....the mix only barley smeared 1/4 of an inch of the entire pan.   
  
Cursing he prepared to make another batch, not wanting to move it to another pan.  
  
**  
  
Two hours, four eggs, a pint of margin, and a half a pound of flour later the pan was now about half full.  
  
Heero sighed in relief and placed his chocolate wonder in the oven and set the timer for 35 minutes. Then peered at the directions fearing the worse, that he had forgotten something and would have to start all over again.   
  
Instead his gaze was taken to the link for frosting. Jerking his head towards the clock he noted he had 33 minutes until the timer went of and Duo should be home in about four hours, around eight pm.  
  
He had enough time if he finished the brownies, frosting and all, within one hour and a half an hour. That would give him enough time to clean, heat up the food, and this included time to spare, even if his sanity wouldn't be.  
  
Fixing a glare at the screen he clicked on the link for Frosting, knowing he was going to regret this, for at least a little while.   
  
"Fudge Frosting  
  
2 1-Ounce Squared Unsweetened Chocolate, Melted  
3 Cups Powdered Sugar (4)  
1/4 Teaspoon Salt  
1 Cup Butter or Margarine  
1 Teaspoon Vanilla  
  
Combine melted chocolate, sugar, syrup, salt, and milk. Cook over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook to soft-ball stage (232o)  
  
Remove from heat; add butter and cool until just warm (110o). Add vanilla and beat until mixture is of spreading consistency.  
  
Frost tops and sides of two 9-inch layers-"  
  
The directions for frosting went on to how to frost for some time after.   
  
He had 27 minutes before the brownies were done.  
  
Now for the last Phase of the Brownies:  
  
Frosting.  
  
*  
  
Yanking out a large skillet (pan) he turned on a burner and placed it on top.  
  
Placing the ingredients expertly into the pan, trading chocolate for coco again, and began to stir. After stirring for about ten minutes Heero noticed that the consistency of the Frosting was not right, it was too gritty and seemed bubble and smoke oddly. Looking at his still left out ingredients and tried to find out what he did wrong.   
  
The coco was measured right, Heero had checked twice to make sure, the corn syrup was dark instead of light but that wouldn't have made much of a difference would it?   
  
Salt wouldn't cause that much of a disturbance.  
  
Milk wasn't going to do it.  
  
So what?  
  
It was then he saw the Sugar. It was plain Granulated Sugar, the type you'd put in you cereal, nothing big. Unless of cores you find out you were supposed to use the Powdered Sugar.   
  
Smacking his head with the heal of his hand repeatedly for a moment, Heero removed the skillet and cleaned it off, ready to start again. But by the time he had most of the stuff ready to be replaced into the pan the buzzer went off, signaling the brownies were done.  
  
Gritting his teeth the blue eyed boy snagged some oven mitts and took out the brownies, only to nearly drop them.  
  
The poor brownies would never be the same. The were far from perfect, they were dark and crisp, the middle open like the Mariana Trench and all the sides looked like sponges. Smoke rose from the middle and twirled in the air in a hypnotic dance as Heero stood dumbfounded. One thought on his mind.  
  
He had failed to make the perfect brownies.   
  
000  
  
  
1. I have to do this every time I cook, they really don't make those cabinets easily excusable for shorter people. :p  
  
2. I do this. I haven't a clue why, but I do!  
  
3. I can NEVER find one when I need it!  
  
4. All both of these recipes are real. They do work....kinda. I got them out of my grandmother's betty cocker book and this is almost exactly what happened to me. Oh! And its really regular sugar. I just wanted to put in Powdered. 


End file.
